Grateful patriotism filled the man’s heart. As a citizen of the greatest nation on earth, he recognized God’s blessing on his life. This man loved his country and he would pray and fight for its safety and security for as long as he lived.
An evil enemy, however, threatened the stability of this great nation. If only God would vanquish this enemy, the nation would be truly free and at peace. Jonah longed for that day.
God had promised an eventual elimination of all of Israel’s enemies (Exodus 15:1-18), but in a strange turn of events, God commanded Jonah to go to the Ninevites. His mission was not to lead an army to destroy them, but to preach to them!
You likely know the story. Jonah runs from the presence of God, ends up being eaten by a big fish, prays in desperation while in the fish, and finally obeys God by preaching to the Ninevites. This results in repentance and revival of an entire city. But we find Jonah in chapter 4, frustrated, depressed, and angry.
A Similar Situation
It is easy to see that Jonah is wrong in this situation, but what about us? A lot is going wrong with our country these days. At every turn it seems like we’re losing our way of life, our standard of living, our morality, and even some of our personal and religions freedoms. Existential enemies threaten the peace and security of our nation.
I find myself wondering what my kids and grandkids will face. It’s easy to become frustrated–even angry–toward those whom we perceive oppose us. But is it right to be angry? This is exactly the question that God asks Jonah in 4:4 and 4:9. Far too often our anger toward those we feel are opposing us could hinder us from not only preaching the gospel, but wanting people to accept it. Our frustration and anger toward opposition can easily cause us to become preoccupied with political solutions and distract us from gospel solutions.
A Divine Illustration
How could Jonah get to the place of such anger and hatred? What could cause him to want to die! God creates a tangible illustration that perfectly identifies the roots of Jonah’s problem. In Jonah 4:5-8, God employs a plant to shield Jonah from the scorching desert sun. Jonah responds with gratefulness. Then God destroys the plant He had made and Jonah reacts in anger. What God reveals in Jonah provides a rubric for self-evaluation.
Wrong Perspective
Jonah viewed his own people with deserving pride and the Ninevites with hateful contempt. In short, Jonah possessed deep-seated, ethnic partiality–racism. This, of course, is forbidden in Scripture (James 2:9).
Wrong Beliefs
Where did Jonah’s prejudice come from? In 4:10, God points out to Jonah that he should not be angry about the plant’s absence because God supplied it with no effort from Jonah. Essentially, God exposed a wrong belief in Jonah’s thinking. Jonah felt entitled to receive God’s unearned grace, but believed that the Ninevites deserved destruction.
Wrong Values
Finally, God’s plant illustration identified Jonah’s love for comfort. According to 4:6, Jonah was “very grateful for the plant.” But when his source of comfort was gone, Jonah again became angry. God exposed Jonah’s misplaced values. He valued personal comfort and national security, over the souls of people.
Thought-provoking Questions
What about us? Are we losing our influence as salt and light because we want our “enemies” eliminated instead of reached with the gospel? Do we believe as American Christians that we are somehow entitled to God’s grace and provision more than others? Do we as American Christians value our comfort over evangelism? May we avoid the attitude of Jonah.
